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POV: Aedon Wynne

The next couple of days were not the most exciting or the most comfortable I've ever been. I wasn't exactly hurt but more like my entire body was just done with everything. If I was a car every single light on my dashboard would be blinking. From the low oil light all the way to the check engine light. In other words Dr. Chakwas had been completely right; I had written a check my body was barely able to pay.

Moving my body in any direction was a struggle and it took until the day we left, the third day, to even be able to stand and that was assisted. I was not happy with my predicament at all; having Tali dote on me wasn't too bad though. She wasn't overbearing but she was near me at all times; I did need her to be though.

At least I could move my arms though and lift things up. Which made drinking with everyone in the bar still possible. When they had found out I was awake We all gathered in the bar and gave our toasts to the fallen. Lily even joined us with her arm missing but that didn't stop her from almost clearing a whole shelf by herself. That's not to say everyone else took it off, we probably consumed more alcohol that night then the last few years on the Normandy.

I couldn't keep up like usual with the meds Dr. Chakwas had me on making a single drink function as five. All that said when everyone was together I definitely got why Dr. Chakwas was benching everyone. The only two people who weren't covered mostly in bandages were Ceelo and Tali. Hell, half of Liara's head was covered in bandages and it covered left eye. Shepard was shirtless with basically his entire chest wrapped up. Those were the two biggest ones I could see but with how Garrus was limping the whole night there had to be other stuff that was hidden.

All of us were fucked up but at least I got free entertainment out of it. Everyone was shitfaced within the first hour besides myself and Tali who just people watched. Found out that Garrus likes it when Nyreen nibbles his mandible. Liara has recently become something of a voyer; not really but she did let it slip that over half the files the Broker had was just people fucking and him using it for blackmail. Plus, found out the Protheans used to have orgies during the war to relieve stress and for the best chance at getting a kid. Kids were almost currency to them during their war.

As for Sirius, found out he married his teacher from his Turian high school days. They had a different name for it obviously but Garrus stated that it was basically their version of high school. Don't know how Sirius managed to do that but good on him; he got to live out the fantasy of almost every teenager with a hot teacher.

Also found out Nif is submissive in bed and Lily has a thing for Quarian Marines. Things got real interesting real fast for everyone in that room until they had to be separated from each other because they might've started in front of us all. Though I did almost fall over from laughter when Nif came over to Tali and asked if he could 'borrow' some of her immune system boosters. She gave him some and not soon afterwards Lily and him were gone. Good for him.

That was about the last thing of note that happened that night before I called it quits and went to bed. Tali pushed me in my wheelchair to get there and joined me in bed. We didn't do anything besides cuddle but it felt nice regardless. The next day we left and were only a few hours from Omega.

Those hours went by in the blink of an eye as I went through some final checks with Dr. Chakwas. She gave me a clean bill of health; all I really needed now was time to let my body recover. Which led to myself, Tali, Nif, Lily and Garrus all standing together at the airlock waiting for it to open. Shepard and the rest standing behind us, giving us a send off.

Pushing myself up off the wheelchair was a struggle but I wanted to walk into Omega. Not be pushed in a wheelchair; plus it would probably be good for me to be seen walking after everything that happened. Even if it would be an absolute bitch to do it would be better if I was seen walking in. Garrus had called ahead to let Nyreen know to expect us and she had promptly told him that almost the entirety of Omega was now amassing outside of the airlock to see us and me specifically. Aria and Nyreen had to organize security just in case; apparently they were treating it as a celebration. As I got up onto my feet the airlock finally opened but before stepping through it I turned around and looked at the rest of the team.

"Don't call me unless someone is going crazy and needs to be dealt with. Otherwise, I don't exist."

"What he said," Garrus stated as he stepped through the airlock. The sounds of cheers roaring to life as he did so.

Nif went next with Lily next to him the whole time. As they stepped through the sounds of cheering kept up and with it Tali and I exchanged looks. She then held out her hand and I gladly took it as we both stepped through the airlock. The resulting sounds of cheers reached a pitch most couldn't touch as soon as they saw Tali and myself. Nyreen hadn't been kidding either, it looked like almost the whole of Omega was here.

All of them were looking at me. I know many people would want to refute that out of principle but they were all looking at me. Seeing all of them look at me I spared a glance at Tali and all she did was nod her head. Smiling at her like a love struck idiot, because I was and I lunged at her and gave her a quick kiss. That kiss made the crowd erupt in cheers but they quieted down the moment I pulled away and began to raise my arm.

Absolute silence followed as I raied my arm to the sky. No one spoke a word out of the entire crowd, all anticipating my actions. Then I activated the torch construct, revealing the torch construct Ceelo had given me above my head. The entire congregation of people in front of me erupted into a fever pitch of cheers. Screaming their lungs out as they saw me and what I, in that moment, reprsentded.

For they knew in that moment that I, the Torchbearer, will fight for all of them.

Garrus, Nif and Lily only a few feet in front of us with their backs to us raised their fists as well. Though I could tell that both Garrus and Lily were looking for someone from how their heads seemed to be scanning the crowd. Each of them zeroing to directly in front of us as the crowd parted in front of us. Nyreen, Aria, Kelli and Vrul all stepping through the parted crowd.

It took a moment or two as we all stood apart from each other before Nyreen walked up to Garrus with a smile on her face as she placed a hand on his face. Kelli doing the same to Lily but more like she took off like a rocket and hugged her little sister. Though when she did our eyes connected and I saw the question in her eyes. I shook my head but refused to have my eyes leave hers. She got the message and buried her face into her sister's neck to avoid being seen crying.

Then the roar of the crowd reached a new height and I looked over to see Garrus on one knee presenting the bracelet. I just smiled as Nyreen greedily took it and slipped it on before kissing him. Seeing that happen Aria walked over to me and held out a hand. I took it without any hesitation and we each smiled. She then started speaking but I couldn't hear her over the crowd but I could read her lips.

I still don't like you, cunt.

I laughed at her statement and nodded my head in agreement. I went to open my mouth and respond back but then the crowd parted again. Samuel and Ilok walking through with Iris between the two of them. Seeing her I stepped forward, Aria moving out of the way, and Iris' eyes instantly zeroed in on me. She took off towards me and I got to a knee throwing my arms out wide for her and she jumped into them.

I didn't lift her up though, it wasn't going to be possible for at least another couple of days. Still, I returned the hug with fervor and it felt like she would never let go with how tight she was holding on. I was able to eventually get her to let me stand up without her though it did come with a bribe of her favorite food, blueberry pancakes. She didn't let go of my hand no matter what I did though, it was fine with me.

After I was able to stand back up again I saw Vrul kneel in front of me again. I just sighed and motioned for him to get back up. He did so without protest and we all found ourselves standing together with Tali and Iris on either side of me. Looking to Garrus his eyes found mine and I nodded to him before beginning to walk off. Nif stayed with Lily and Kelli and Garrus with Nyreen. Everyone else went with me; Vrul, Samuel and Ilok changing into a triangle formation around us with Vrul on point.

We walked through the crowd as they parted for us and we made it to the waiting air car. Piling inside we promptly left the area with Pequod as the driver. He dropped off at my apartment and I led all three of us inside. Tali acclimating immediately as she put her stuff in my room. As soon as she left Iris' eyes zeroed in on me.

"Am I going to have a brother or sister?" straight to the point. Least it looks like she won't be getting jealous.

"Don't know yet. We planned on finding out on Omega though, probably tomorrow or the day after," she just nodded her head before she reached under the couch and lifted up a sniper rifle that was long as she was tall. She put it on the table in front of the couch and started doing maintenance on it.

"It's good to see you again dad. I missed you… I was scared I wouldn't see you again," she spoke as she started working on the gun. It was a coping mechanism then, I don't think that's good to have at her age. I need to learn more psychology.

"I'm not going anywhere Iris," I spoke as I sat down on the couch and ruffled her hair. She pulled away giving me a groan of displeasure before stopping her maintenance and getting up onto the couch and onto me. Sitting on my lap as she placed her head on my chest. I just hugged her and moments later her breathing evened out and she was asleep. We did arrive later in the day afterall.

Standing up with her still in my arms I carried her to her room and gently laid her on the bed. Tucking her in I kissed her forehead before leaving the room and plopping back down on the couch. Iris left her weapon on the table and disassembled. I could clean it up but I didn't know the rifle at all and Iris did. Better to just leave it for now.

A minute or so later Tali walked out of my room and joined me on the couch. Leaning into me I could hear her purring; still weird to me that Quarians could purr but at this point I really shouldn't be shocked by anything the galaxy throws at me. Essence is real and so rare it might as well be a myth, I can drain and fight Reapers toe to toe, Shepard got brought back to life, Reapers actually exist, we found a live Prothean, and I somehow bagged essentially a Quarian princess.

"Is that your first ax?" she asked, gesturing to the ax that was mounted above the TV.

"Yeah, I used it during my rampage getting Iris back," she hummed at my answer.

"What's the blade made out of? I can't tell that metal."

"It was a sharpened Krogan head plate that I welded a steel beam to. Then strapped it to a metal pipe. I got a real ax after I woke up," the purring stopped and Tali was now staring at me from behind her mask. I could see her searching me for any hint of a lie; one she wasn't going to find. When she realized that she just sighed.

"I really hope our child is a boy."

"Why?"

"A boy with your looks, my mind, your adaptability and our connections will just be a soldier. An incredibly good one probably rivaling or surpassing you and Shepard. A girl with my looks, your mind, my stubbornness and our connections will be a politician. She'll rule the whole damn galaxy before she's 25," the scary part was that I couldn't find the logic to refute that.

"Well, I call dibs on being her number two," Tali chuckled and playfully slapped my chest with her hand. Both of us descending into a fit of chuckles before relaxing in each other's arms. Falling asleep soon afterwards.

I awoke to someone knocking on my door sometime around 0530. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes I untangled myself from Tali before going to my room and grabbing my pistol out of my bag. Once I had it in my hand I went to the door, cocking the hammer back, and opened the door. It was just Vrul and upon seeing that I opened the door fully for him.

"My lord," he stated as he lifted up a stack of papers. "Kelli was supposed to drop these off this morning but she's in no shape to do so."

"What is this?" I asked as I put my pistol in my waist and grabbed the papers.

"All of our troop movements, missions, pay, everything we've done during the war," quickly looking over them I walked away to the kitchen, motioning for him to follow. He did so, closing the door behind himself.

"Break it down for me Vrul," I stated as I sat down at the table. I'll read through it all later but a quick breakdown was what I preferred right now.

"We're doing extremely well for ourselves. Our missions have mostly been extractions of either soldiers or important figures across the galaxy with a mission success rate in the 60s. Doesn't sound that good but right now we're one of if not the best for extractions. Reinforcing lines on the few missions we've taken of those we're in the low 50s. Better than most but not the best; that goes to a Krogan squad headed by Urdnot Grunt."

"How many have we lost on these missions?"

"Not that many, surprisingly. Most of our failures have come from the fact that we were too late getting there or they were already dead. We've lost about 70 in total from your men, out of the 500 we started with. We've been going around the clock though, this is actually the first time myself, Kelli, Ilok and Samuel have been on Omega at the same time since the war started."

"How's recruiting coming then?"

"Good. Not as good as I want it to be but good regardless. Soldiers who were the sole survivor, Krogans looking for a fight beyond Tuchanka, Asari that aren't cowards, and a few human mercenary groups have all been integrated. We've got about 60 in total recruited in; some going to Garrus and Nyreen's groups but most to us," nodding my head as he explained I started flipping through the pages. Looks like they were on Tuchanka while I was there, same area as Jack it seems.

"What else can you tell me?" Then he got cagy for a moment and looked directly at Iris' room. I got an inkling on what he was about to say but I wasn't about to be happy about it.

"Iris took a job from the Turian government a few weeks back," fucking fantastic. Exactly what I didn't want. "She took it without our knowledge and was able to get off Omega in your ship before we realized what was going on."

"Explain to me why and how that happened now," I growled out to Vrul.

"It was just Samuel on station and he just got back from a week on the front on Tuchanka. She was gone the next morning. Took an assassination job on one of the colony worlds for the Turians away from the heavy fighting. Guy was confirmed to be indoctrinated by one of his men before that man went silent. He was still able to get a message out and the Turians couldn't spare any Blackwatch to do the job so they sent the job directly to us. She went in, parked your ship on the pad and shot the guy through the head while he was in his office from the ship before taking off and coming straight back. Hacked the security footage before leaving though so she had proof that the man was dead."

"What punishment did you give her?"

"She went under 24/7 watch, and had her weapons and range privileges revoked. Plus a curfew," she got off lucky. What the hell was she thinking… she did get the job done though. Which a small part of me was proud about but I was more angry that she would even risk that or feel that she needed to.

"Thank you Vrul. You can go, will Nyreen need anything today?"

"No sir," was his answer as he stood up from the table.

"Good. Set up an appointment for Tali at the clinic; ultrasound. Message me the time of the appointment when it's made," he nodded and then took his leave.

I spent the next hour or so going over the files that he had given me. He was spot on in his breakdown from what I could tell through the files. Most of the time we failed the mission simply because we were too late to get there. Nothing could be done about that but excluding those instances we had a rather impressive success rate for this war when we got there with time. In the low 80s.

At the end of the hour I spent going over the files Iris came out of her room and Tali woke up. Iris took one look at me as I stared my daughter down making my displeasure shown. Tali seemed confused on what was going on but Iris held her chin high. I respected that she wouldn't back down and was accepting of her mistakes but I couldn't just let it fly.

I simply pointed at the chair across from me while never breaking eye contact. She walked up like someone on death row as she took her seat. Tali sent me a curious look but I didn't answer. When I didn't she set about making breakfast for everyone. While she did that I simply stared down Iris until she finally wilted under my stare. Looking down in shame she accepted her fate; kinda made me proud of myself because it told me I had the 'Dad' stare down already.

Which made it all the better when I didn't say anything beyond that we would talk after she got back from her school later in the day. Better to just have her stew, that'll be punishment enough for now. Either way, after she had her breakfast and left at 0730 for school Tali sat on my lap on the couch again.

"What did she do?" guess she had experience with the dad look as well. Don't think any kid who grew up with one went without seeing it at least once. So I told her and she was almost as angry as I had been at finding out about it. Before she could pick up a head of steam though Vrul messaged me and told me that the ultrasound was scheduled for 0900. Guess we'll finally be finding out what the gender is.

Finding out we only had an hour before the ultrasound also killed any and all possibility of sexy time with her. On one hand disappointing, on the other it wouldn't really do to go in with afterglow. There'll be plenty of time after the ultrasound and before Iris gets back from school.

So we left the apartment and made our way to the clinic thankfully with little fanfare. Most of the people up and about at the moment were more or less stumbling. Obviously hungover or still drunk from the nights partying. They weren't exceptionally loud the night before but they were loud enough that it was noticeable. Any time to party on Omega.

Either way we made it to the clinic easily and walked in. Only to be immediately taken care of by one of the nurses present. No waiting, no filling out forms, nothing; she just took us back to the room immediately. Where a doctor came in a mere couple minutes later.

"Mr. Wynne, Miss Zorah. I understand we're doing an ultrasound today. No need to worry about your suit either Miss Zorah, we have the technology where it doesn't matter. Is there anything we're looking for today besides just a check on the child?"

"Gender," Tali and I spoke in unison. The doctor simply nodded and went about his business setting up the machine. Silently gesturing to Tali to get on the chair, which she did without argument.

When the machine was fully set up the doctor went about going through his initial tests on it before becoming satisfied. When he started to run the handle over her stomach deciding to do the initial check first. Which came back completely clean, well almost. Turns out the baby's biotic readings were off the charts for what should be normal.

Which lead the doctor to recommending that when the baby does come that we have someone used to that on hand. Especially for the initial stages of raising the kid, with those numbers apparently the baby could be showing off their biotic prowess as early as a year old. Which was concerning on one hand for their safety and mind but apparently the child was already showing resilience to biotics similar to Asari in the womb. Meaning they wouldn't need an amp to control it. All that said to me was that the kid was going to be a handful.

"Alright, any bets on gender?" the doctor asked us almost jokingly.

"This is Omega afterall," Tali chuckled before looking at me. "Boy and I get a full course if I'm right," I knew exactly what she meant by that even if the doctor didn't.

"Girl, and I get to do that thing I told you about," she thought about it for a second before nodding her head.

"It's a girl," I silently pumped my fist at finding out I was right. Tali looked a little down that she had been wrong but I whispered to her that I'd do it anyways. She brightened up at that.

"There anything else you two need today?" the doctor asked as he started shutting down the machine.

"No, thank you doc," I stated helping Tali up off the chair.

"The pleasure was mine. Have a good day sir, ma'am," and then he left, leaving us alone and we both left soon afterwards, going straight back to the apartment for sexy time.

Sexy time did in fact happen then and it happened a lot over the next week. Whenever Iris was out of the apartment and no one needed either of us we couldn't get enough of each other. We were finally able to relax and what better way than to get sweaty together. It was amazing and I did fulfill my promise to her, I gave her a full course; she let me do what I wanted though. It was a definite win-win.

As for Iris when she came home that first day after school she was a nervous wreck awaiting punishment. Seeing her that way I lightened up my scolding of her but did scold her; she put herself in danger and did something she wasn't allowed to do. Other than that though I let it lie. It had been far too long since she actually did it for me to reasonably do anything more. Even if I wanted to; she got the message though.

I did feel a bit bad for her and took her to the range two days later. Myself and Tali would've gone regardless but we took Iris along as well. I still wanted to spend time with my daughter even if I wasn't the happiest with her. She showed out too, not gonna lie, she was almost a better shot than Tali which was impressive. As a sniper though was where she excelled; she was a deadshot. Give her a scope and sniper and she couldn't miss; it was rather incredible and even impressed Garrus.

Leaving that aside, Tali and I made the rounds around our group's controlled section of Omega. Visited a few new restaurants that popped up but had to keep it to Dextro for the most part. I could eat both amino and dextro but Tali couldn't and I wasn't about to take her to a place that couldn't cater. I did take Iris to a few of those restaurants though because they looked good; they were too.

Tali was a little bummed that we couldn't go to all the same restaurants but I made it up to her as best I could. Meaning that I just winged it and took her out shopping. She spent the most time getting new types of lingerie and getting dresses. She'd never truly worn one before and with the immunization boosters she was able to go out and wear a dress without her suit. She had to take extra doses every fifteen minutes since her immune system wasn't used to Omega but she was still able to do it.

Which in and of itself got a lot of people looking at her. An extreme few had ever seen a Quarian out of their suit and to see that she was beautiful as well made it all the easier for her to turn heads. Those heads usually quickly diverted once they saw me with her knowing that she was absolutely off limits. Didn't stop another Quarian from hitting on her when she went out to pick up food alone. She, from what she told me, simply told him to fuck off and left; I was so proud.

Beyond all that though I honestly didn't do much. Did a few small workouts but not much until yesterday. My body finally felt good enough for a full workout and now I was sore all over. Totally worth it though as it told me that I finally had my strength and body back. I wouldn't say that they were at 100% but they were close.

As of the moment I was having a post sex sandwich that I made for Tali and myself. Making sure it was Dextro in the process of making it as well. I was barely a bite in when I got a call. Checking the ID it was Aria and I wanted to not answer it but was admittedly curious what she wanted to talk about.

"I'm listening?" I said as I answered the call and took another bite of the sandwich.

"I have the head of the Blood Pack, Eclipse and Blue Suns here with me. I'll cut to the chase and make this quick though; they want in."

"In on what? We don't have any operations with them," I stated taking another bite of my sandwich.

"We want in on this war Torchbearer. The loot in and of itself is worth it to go in without a real contract," I don't know who stated that but it sounded vaguely familiar. I still couldn't place it.

"Who was that?" I asked Aria.

"Blue Suns commander," then it clicked.

"Zaeed," I growled out. "I still owe you for trying to take the Normandy after the Collectors. And you're on Omega with Aria; I'll see you soon."

"No thanks, I choose life. How much to make this problem go away," if he was willing to pay… I guess I could look the other way. I really wanted to kick him into a sun but I could look past it. Looking to Tali she held up two fingers, I can get behind that.

"2 million," Tali choked on her drink and coughed for a second or two before recovering. Waving off my worried looks.

"Done, you should see the money now," looking at my account I saw a transfer of 2 million and smiled.

"We're good then. Now, I can't officially bring you into the war. I don't have that type of power. I can, however, get you in touch with people who do have that power."

"Bullshit. You're the hero of Rannoch, God's Reaper; just tell the Council we're in and they'll okay it," that wasn't Zaeed but it didn't matter. I thought about it for a moment then responded.

"I'll call you back. Give me a couple minutes."

"Are you really going to call the Council?" Tali asked as she finished her sandwich.

"Why not? I'm kinda curious if I actually have that much sway to just say it and it'll be done."

"You practically had that sway before Aedon. The council listens to you for some reason. My bet is that you've repeatedly beat them into the ground when they didn't listen to you and you ended up being right. Now though, I'd bet if you asked them too they'd bend over and let you spank them."

"Now, that would be something," I said only to earn a playful slap to the shoulder from Tali.

"No Aedon. Please don't. And 2 million just like that, I wanted two hundred thousand at best. Just how rich are you?"

"Mercenary work pays really well. Not to mention scavenging and selling stuff later. If you're asking for a number though, it's well past eight digits," Tali just looked at me in shock before I called Sparatus. The connection was spotty but I still got though to him.

"Aedon, what can I do for you?" He replied in his military voice. It didn't get through that well, voice cut in and out a bit but I could still tell what he was saying.

"Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack want in on the war. Can it be done?"

"Yes. Give them the contact info I'll send you and send it to them. After that it is up to them. Anything else?"

"No, good day Councillor," then I cut the connection and waited two minutes for Sparatus' message to go through. When it did I called Aria.

"Y'all were right. You're in," I stated without preamble. "I'll be sending contact data to Aria to share with you. They'll get you set up in certain theaters of the war but after that it's up to you on everything else." I cut the connection and forwarded the contact data to Aria.

Barely a moment after I did there was a pounding on my door. Standing up, I was just in my boxers by the way and Tali was only in a bra and panties, I went to the door and opened it. At the door was Nyreen, Garrus, Vrul and Kelli; Kelli looked better but she was definitely still grieving.

"Aria is meeting with the leaders o-"

"I know, she called. They wanted in on the war in a full capacity; beyond what we're currently doing," I stated, opening the door wide enough for them to see me fully but not Tali.

"We should join in then," Vrul stated eagerly.

"No," Nyreen stated immediately getting a nod of approval from everyone else. "We aren't suited for that type of fight. We're better as operators and a quick reaction force; we aren't built to truly be front line fighters. The only reason we took those jobs was because they paid out the ass for them."

"So no front line then," Vrul sounded legitimately sad. I almost laughed.

"No Vrul. It's better for us. We'll be on our way then, you have a good day Aedon. Remember, since she's already pregnant protection isn't needed," Garrus stated cheekily before dragging Nyreen off. I laughed at them before gesturing for Vrul to go. Kelli tried to go but I grabbed her arm before she could.

"Take your time okay. Don't do anything rash; she wouldn't want that," Kelli looked down away from me. Hiccuping once she raised her head and looked back at me, eyes glossy with unshed tears.

"I know. It still hurts though."

"It never stops Kelli. You can move beyond it though; you're stronger than you think. You'll be okay," she nodded her head and left. I took a big sigh before closing the door.

The next three days went through about the same routine as always. I woke up before everyone, worked out and then made breakfast. Made sure to spend as much time as I could with both of the best girls in my life. It was a supremely relaxing time to be there and at the moment I had just finished sexy time with Tali when a call came through to me. Seeing the caller ID being Shepard I didn't bother answering it, instead deciding to cuddle with Tali. When it ended another call immediately started ringing and it was Ceelo, who just hacked my omni-tool/arm and opened the call regardless.

"Shepard's clone is trying to kill Shepard and take his place," Tali and I just looked between each other before responding together.

"What?"

You all understand the pain they go through. They will go to the ends of the Earth for the other. For they are the ones who will fight to the end for everyone.